Nicklinson right-to-die appeal

The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, and two other judges in the Court of Appeal, will hear challenges brought by the family of the late Tony Nicklinson and paralysed Paul Lamb in cases against the Justice Secretary.

Dr Peter Saunders, from Care Not Killing, a UK based organisation which promotes care and opposes euthanasia said Paul Lamb is seeking a "very radical change in the law."

He said: "If he was successful in getting that legal change it would drive a coach and horses through not the suicide act but the murder act as well and that would put a lot of vulnerable, elderly people at risk

"The proper place to be making this decision is not in court, it's in Parliament", he added.

The case of paralysed road accident victim Paul Lamb, who won the right to join the litigation to continue the battle started by Mr Nicklinson, will also be considered during the appeal court hearing, which will last several days.

Immobile except for limited movement in his right hand, Mr Lamb has been in significant pain since the 1990 tragedy.

Paralysed road accident victim Paul Lamb Credit: ITV News

The former builder and father-of-two said in a statement after winning the right to have his case heard: "I hope that this is the next step towards the ultimate goal of changing this cruel law, which keeps people like me alive when I want to have a dignified death.

"To be given this chance of being involved in the case makes me very proud. I have always been an extremely strong character and when I believe in something, I can take on the world.

"So, for the sake of everyone in this country who deserves the right to have a dignified death, I hope that we can make this happen."

Tony Nicklinson with his wife Jane (left) and daughters Beth (right) and Lauren last year Credit: Emma Hallett/PA Wire

Mr Nicklinson, 58, who suffered from locked-in syndrome, died on August 22 last year days after losing a landmark High Court right-to-die case.

Fifty-eight-year-old Paul Lamb, from Leeds, has joined forces with the family of Mr Nicklinson, who died in 2012, severely injured in a car accident in 1990, Mr Lamb no function in any of his limbs apart from a little movement in his right hand.